The 2024 crypto hype, driven by increased regulatory clarity, technological advancements, and broader market adoption, has been quite strong, helping global crypto exchange revenues to almost double compared to last year. In 2024, crypto exchanges are expected to gross $56.7 billion, or 90% more than in 2023. However, the market projections for the next year are not that optimistic.
According to data presented by Stocklytics.com, global crypto exchange revenues are expected to plunge by more than $11 billion or 20% in 2025.
So far, 2024 has been a good year for investing in cryptos. The world’s most expensive cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, saw its price grow by 47% in the year’s first half. Other large-cap altcoins, particularly meme coins and AI-related tokens, saw even bigger gains. AI tokens Artificial Superintelligence Alliance, and SingularityNET jumped by 88% and 90% in value, respectively, while Shiba Inu’s price increased by 64% in this period. Crypto’s strong performance and optimistic investor sentiment drove a lot of trading activity in the crypto space, helping crypto exchanges to recover after challenging two years.
After a staggering 2,100% growth between 2017 and 2021, driven by the surging crypto adoption and heavyweight institutions embracing digital assets, crypto exchange revenues plunged by 41% amid the bear market of 2022, the worst drop in the market’s history. That year, crypto exchanges grossed only $37.7 billion, down from $64.1 billion in 2021. Due to challenging economic conditions and significant headwinds in the crypto space, the negative trend continued last year, with revenues falling by another 20% to only $30.3 billion.
However, 2024 marked a turning point, with crypto hype bringing much more positive market projections. According to the latest Statista market forecast, global crypto exchange revenues will spike by over 86% year-over-year and hit $56.7 billion, the second-highest figure in the market’s history, before plunging again in 2025.
According to the estimates, global revenue of crypto exchanges, crypto banks, and trading platforms will drop by 20% to $45.3 billion next year. This massive $11 billion decline, the second largest in the market’s history, will pull crypto exchange revenues closer to 2022 levels.
Besides a double-digit revenue drop, Statista expects crypto exchanges to face a massive user decline. In 2023, close to 580 million people worldwide traded digital coins on crypto exchanges, 280 million more than the year before.
This figure is forecasted to hit an all-time high of 866 million in 2024, showing a massive 286 million increase year-over-year. However, after years of double-digit growth, even throughout challenging 2022 and 2023, the number of crypto exchange users is expected to plunge next year. According to Statista, crypto exchanges will count 746 million users in 2025, or 110 million less than this year, marking the first user drop in the market’s history.